Punxsutawney Phil predicts six more weeks of winter, but that won’t stop us from counting down the days till wedding season! Lucky for us, the Wedding & Portraits Photography Conference came through just in time to sustain us. We sent a team to Las Vegas last week, including our resident wedding photographer Matt Nelson, to get the latest from the Wedding and Portrait industry.

“There were actually few couples who got married at the conference and people photographed them,” says Nelson. “I think that part of the deal was that they were going to get married anyway, and WPPI said ‘we’ve got a bunch of amateur photographers – get married here!’”

For those new to the scene, WPPI is a week-long industry conference and trade show created for the oft neglected “weekend warriors” of the photography world. Founded in 1978, it  features educational seminars designed to share the latest wedding photography techniques. “I wanted to go and get some tips for myself, learn more about the industry, where wedding photography is headed,” says Nelson, who did his first wedding shoot ‘out of curiosity’ a few years ago.

When he wasn’t valiantly manning our table, Nelson got to mingle and learn from some of the best in the business. “Joe Brady did a really cool landscapes workshop for us,” says Nelson. “He went through his process and techniques. You can definitely incorporate landscape into wedding photography, especially for weddings in countrysides ones in a big open field. Then we had Miguel Quiles, who did lighting on the go. He showed us how to put up quick lighting to take anywhere,” which is also relevant to wedding photography.

“A lot of it depends on the where you are,” explains Nelson. “Sometimes you’ll be at a venue with dream lighting, but other times you’re in a desert or out in the countryside and you don’t have anything. So, you need some of those quick things. There were some weddings I shot out in the country, where the bride and groom wanted to do something in the creek, and that isn’t the most picturesque thing you can think of.” Hence, jerry-rigging and quick thinking, he argues, are required tools of the trade.

As he wandered through the conference, Nelson says that a few companies really blew the crowd away with exceptional exhibitions. “DJI, the drone company, had a really cool booth,” he says. “They let you try out their drones and fly them. There was another company called Millers, who does prints. They had all kinds of prints on metal, canvas. They had the biggest booth at the show, and size-wise it really stood out.”

All and all, it was a fun, Casino-studded conference, where big names mingled with amateurs, and one South Carolina native got a special surprise on his flight West. “I was trying not to get my hopes up because I didn’t want to be disappointed,” says Nelson. “but I was pretty excited when I looked out the window and realized this was the Grand Canyon.”

Break out your google calendars; it’s time to set alerts for these five fine photography exhibitions. Whether’s it Truman Capote’s Brooklyn, Pieter Hugo’s vision of post-1994 Rwanda, or Marilyn Minter’s criticism of desire and the female body, late Winter to early Spring of this year is packed with excellent shows in Gotham.

Truman Capote’s Brooklyn: The Lost Photographs of David Attie at Brooklyn Historical Society
20 July 2016 – 1 July 2017

Impressed by David Attie’s stunning atmospheric photo montages for his classic novella, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Truman Capote later invited the young photographer to come with him on a journey through the streets of Brooklyn as part of an essay for Holiday magazine. Truman Capote’s Brooklyn features these largely unseen photographs of the then 33-year-old Capote in his chosen home.

Marilyn Minter: Pretty/Dirty at The Brooklyn Museum
4 November 2016 – 2 April 2017

Marilyn Minter’s acclaimed collection of paintings, photographs, and videos explores the complex contradictions surrounding the female body and desire. Pretty/Dirty spans more than four decades, starting with photorealist and Pop art techniques in the late sixties into the mid-eighties, and continuing on with visceral explorations of food and the body in the nineties. By exposing the beauty industry through absurdist imagery, Minter illustrates the ways in which commercialization of the female body manipulates desire.

The Poetics of Place: Contemporary Photographs at The Met
12 December 2016 – 25 June 2017

Featuring photographs from the last half century, The Poetics of Place explores contemporary representations of landscape from the late sixties onward. It opens with photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher, Dan Graham, and Donald Judd, whose raw yet acculturated images of nature in mid-century America transition beautifully into Walker Evans’ Hale County, Alabama Polaroid prints from the mid-1970s. From representations of rural America to the encroaching metropolises of the East, Poetics draws from minimal and conceptual art as well as the legacy of post-war avant-garde movements.

1994 at Yossi Milo Gallery
26 January – 11 March 2017

Pieter Hugo’s fifth exhibition at the Yossi Milo Gallery explores the identity of children in South Africa and Rwanda in a post-1994 world (the year of the Rwandan genocide and the end of South African apartheid). “I noticed how the kids, particularly in South Africa, don’t carry the same historical baggage as their parents,” says Hugo. “I find their engagement with the world to be very refreshing in that they are not burdened by the past, but at the same time you witness them growing up with these liberation narratives that are in some ways fabrications.” 1994 features color photographs of children, often in fanciful dress, to illustrate the somewhat tenuous whimsy of liberation narratives.

Duane Hanson Polaroids: 1979 – 1994 at Aperture Gallery
16 February – 23 March 2017

Famous for his hyper-realistic scuplture work of everyday people, Duane Hanson also utilized photography to help develop his signature vision. These polaroids feature subtle adjustments and posing aimed to bring Hanson closer to something that felt both ‘real’ and true to character. Often pined to the wall, spattered with paint, and delightfully scarred by the artist’s hand, the pictures are both a historical documentation of the artistic process and art in their own right.

As the snow melts, don’t forget that there are still amazing things to see indoors. Yes, central park is lovely in Spring, but so are these exhibitions! Carve some time out in the coming months to visit your favorite gallery.

Dear Holy Father, who art in Heaven, please help us get our butts in gear this year. We are photographers – artists, and as such, we are not always organized. We request the work ethic of Mrs. Beyoncé Knowles, the creative risk-taking of Solange, the blunt force determination of Tina, and the wisdom to know when to wield each. (For some real world help, check out these recommended resolutions.)

Clean Your Gear

It’s astounding how many photographers forget to clean their gear. Just grab a lens cloth and a bit of lens cleaner, for goodness sake!  Use circular movements to clear spots of gunk off your lens. Swipe a Q-tip in all the crevices of your camera and a blower to quickly and easily remove spots of dust that gather inside the body. Take everything out of your camera bag. Yes, dump it! Pick out all the abandoned memory cards, pieces of lint, lost straps and accessories. Organize it, and put it back. No more excuses.

Collaborate With Other Photographers

Photography, like many art forms, suffers from director syndrome. We want total control of our final product, and so we shrink away from working with other artists. This is a trap! Collaborating with other photographers is one of the best ways to improve your work. Not only do other photographers have different skills and techniques to learn from (and different gear that you can use if you’re nice), but working together helps you reassess and reevaluate your own style.

Plan Long-Term Projects

Inspiration is 1% of art. The other 99% is hard work. Plan ahead. Putting together long-term projects will help you keep direction and momentum when inspiration falls flat. The year is long. Set goals.

Organize Your Files

If you don’t have a system for organizing files on your computer, get one. Find all your photos. This is easier said than done, as images can end up anywhere from downloads to desktop. Next, make a root folder for your images. Name it ‘Photos,’ ‘Pictures,’ ‘Images,’ ‘Pixel Party’ – up to you. Then, make folders within that folder to delineate years. After years, organize by major events and/or months. Dump your photos accordingly. It will take more time than anyone wants to spend, but once it’s done, it’s done.

Backup Your Photos on a Second Hard Drive

We cannot stress this one enough. Hard drives fail. Power surges happen. Flash floods occur on the way to the library, and your flimsy backpack will soak through. Backup hard drives are a lot less expensive than they once were, and the peace of mind is worth it.

Plan for the Gear You Want, But Use the Gear You’ve Got

It’s easy to think, “I could do that if I had the right gear.” Well, maybe you could. Make a game plan to save up for two or three new accessories to improve your craft in the New Year, but don’t let that stop you from working with what you already have! Envy is the enemy of creativity. Instead of saying, “I could do that, if…” try to do what you can with what you have.